Experimental Assessment of Electrons and Holes in Erase Transient of TANOS and TANVaS Memories

We present carrier separation experiments based on direct charge measurement to assess the contributions of electrons and holes to the erase transient of TANOS-like nonvolatile memories. The role of different carrier species is analyzed as a function of erase voltage and charge configuration at the initial programmed state. We extend the analysis to band-engineered tunneling barriers, demonstrating that the performance improvement in these devices lies more on the enhancement of hole current rather than that of the electron one.